Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Michelangelo is a familiar name in the world of renaissance
painting and sculpture, but did you know he was also a poet, architect and
engineer?Simonetta Carrcouples her experience as an elementary school teacher
with her background in Italian art to bring this extraordinary man to young readers in her new book, Michelangelo for Kids. Here is a thoughtfully written, readily accessible, and beautifully illustrated immersion in the life of this extraordinary artist whose talents
influenced the history of Western art .

How
did your background in varied cultures, and Italian art in particular, together
you’re your experience as a teacher, influence your choice of Michelangelo and
impact the content of your book?

I was having an email exchange with Lisa Reardon,
senior editor at Chicago Review Press, when she mentioned they had been looking
for someone to write about Michelangelo. It just seemed like a perfect fit.

I
was born and raised in Italy, a country that is often described as “an open-air
museum,” and grew up with a natural love for both art and history. I also
attended the School of Applied Arts at the Sforza Castle in Milan, where I
learned to appreciate different techniques and styles. All this was obviously a
tremendous help in writing this book.

Equally
important was my background as primary school teacher, both in public schools
and our home-school. Besides, my knowledge of Italian allowed me to read the
primary sources for this book in their original language. Last but not least, I
had already written several biographies set around the time of the Protestant
and Catholic Reformations, and had done extensive research on this subject.

How
does your career as a writer influence other areas of your life and vice versa?

It’s
not really a career – not yet at least. I have always loved writing. My mother
was an excellent writer who taught junior-high Italian. She wrote several books
and filled me with a passion for literature since a very young age. She spent
much time teaching me how to write. She kept encouraging me to write a book but
I didn’t think I had enough to say. I wrote articles for newspapers and
magazines and, after I married an American and improved my knowledge of the
English language, I translated books from English into Italian.

In the meantime, I had eight
children, so writing took a secondary place in my life. It was something I
enjoyed, and – in my opinion – cultivating a personal passion is important even
for busy mothers. I communicated my passion for reading, writing, and
researching to my children, and they taught me how to simplify my language and
hold their attention.

Once I started to write books, my
life as a mother has directed my choices of subject, format and style. My first
book was actually a family effort. It was born as an attempt to fill a vacuum –
producing books I wished I could find on the market – and my children have been
my best critics and advisers.

Now my kids are all grown up, but I
still try to spend much time with children and enlist many of them as editors
and consultants.

What do you do when you are not writing?

Writing still occupies a small portion of my life.
Financially speaking, I haven’t been able to turn it into a career. Even if
most of my children live on their own, I still have a large house to clean and
meals to cook for my husband and the kids that are still at home. Plus, with
two kids still in college, one in high school, and very uncertain retirement
prospects, I like to carry a small share of the financial burden by devoting
much time to teaching Italian and translating. I am hoping to spend most of my
time writing one day soon. I have a wonderful friend who has been able to do
just that (Nancy Sanders), and has produced great resources to help other
writers to do so.

Briefly, what's your book about?

It’s a biography of Michelangelo Buonarroti, who
has been universally recognized as one of the greatest artists of all time. The
book includes an overview of the times in which he lived and how they affected
his works.

What would you like readers to take
from it?

I hope my readers will gain a greater
appreciation for Michelangelo and art in general. I hope they will discover
Michelangelo as a man, friend, father, son, and uncle as well as a sculptor,
painter, architect, and poet. And I hope they will be as inspired as I was to
see his attention to details, his commitment to excellence, and his
faithfulness to chip away at blocks of marble, day after day, in spite of
obstacles and disappointments.

What other books have you written and published?

I have started a series of books called Christian Biographies for Young Readers, published by Reformation Heritage Books. As I said, this series was inspired by a need I and other parents had noticed. For children who are born in Christian families, well researched and accurate books on the history of Christian thought are important tools to help them reflect on what they believe and why. Their value, however, is not limited to followers of one religion. Christianity occupies much of our history and these books have been successfully used by teachers as part of their history curriculum.

Presently, the series includes eight volumes: Augustine, Athanasius, Anselm of Canterbury, John Calvin, Lady Jane Grey, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, and Marie Durand. The next title, to be published in October, will be Martin Luther. Three of these books have been finalists for the San Diego Book Awards. Anselm of Canterbury has won first prize as best biography at the 2014 San Diego Book Awards, and first prize at the 2014 Athanatos Christian Writing Contest.

Besides this series, I have written a short biography of Renée of France, published by Evangelical Press, and a piece of historical fiction for young adults, The Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Morata, published by P&R.

What are your
current/future projects?

For Chicago Review Press, I am writing a book
entitled Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt for
Kids. For my series of biographies, I am writing on John Newton.

The life and work of Michelangelo is such a large topic. How
did you go about making it accessible for young audiences?

I think the most important thing was
getting a sense of this great man and capturing all the excitement of his life
story. Watching documentaries and lectures given by enthusiastic scholars
helped. I had to be passionate about this subject to communicate the same passion
to the children. After that, structuring the book became easier because I knew
what needed to be emphasized and what could afford a simple mention.

What is your writing
process? Do you follow a regular routine?

I like to write in the
morning while my mind is fresh. If I am not out teaching, I write some more in
the evening when I need to sit down anyhow. Since I love writing, I see it as a
reward after finishing my other tasks.

My process is methodical. I devote
different days to different projects so I don’t have to clutter my author’s
backburner. For each biography, after researching the subject and structuring
the book, I calculate how much I need to write each month to meet my deadline
and then start writing one chapter one at a time.

What book(s)/author(s)
have influenced your writing and how?

I love reading biographies
and stand in awe at the talent and expertise of most contemporary biographers.
For my research, I mostly read biographies aimed at an adult audience, but the
principles of good writing are the same. It’s hard to name authors because the
list would be endless. When I wrote about Michelangelo, I learned (or tried to
learn), in different ways, from William Wallace, A. Victor Coonin, John Spike,
and Antonio Forcellino. William Wallace is absolutely a giant, both in his
knowledge of Michelangelo and in his ability to inspire and engage the reader.

As for children’s
biographies, I have learned much from James Cross Giblin (who hasn’t?). For my
series for young readers, I was inspired by Mike Venezia and have learned a lot
from him on communicating effectively with kids and on condensing information
without sacrificing historical context and art or music appreciation. I still
read some of his books before my final review of my biographies for young
readers. It helps me to see how far I have strayed from a simple and concise
language.

What did you find to
be the most important elements of good writing when approaching a project such
asMichelangelo for Kids?

I already mentioned
passion – finding exciting elements of a person’s life I want to run to tell
the kids. As I said, my kids are grown up but I still grab them from time to
time. If not, I pester my husband, who listens patiently.

Structure and organization are also
very important, especially for some projects. For example, right now I am
writing Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt. Ancient
Egypt is a 3,000-year old civilization! Also, Cleopatra’s life was inseparably
tangled with the history of Rome – particularly the end of the republic and the
beginning of the empire. In this case, organization is essential. I have to be
very careful to find a balance between Cleopatra’s exciting life story, her
historical context, and an overview of the colossal ancient nation she ruled.

Another very important element of
good writing is describing the character’s emotions, preferably letting them
speak through their own words. With Michelangelo, that was quite easy because
we have a large number of his letters and poems. We don’t have anything from
Cleopatra’s pen and very little from her people around her, so that will
definitely be more of a challenge.

What's one essential piece of
advice about writing or publishing you'd like to pass on to readers and writers?

I am not sure if I am the right person
to give advice. When I wrote my first book, I saw a need for it, sent a
proposal to all the children’s publishers I could find, and then waited. I was
not particularly worried about it. If everyone had said no, I wouldn’t have
been crushed. Since I really believed in the importance of this type of books,
if everyone had said no I might have tried a different approach. Eventually,
however, a publisher said yes, and it was definitely the right one because the
book (and the series that ensued) turned out much better than I had ever
imagined. I don’t know if this approach works for everyone.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Caterpillar to ButterflybyCamilla de la Bedoyereintroduces this subject by answering with the
question “What is a butterfly?” followed by a look at basic butterfly anatomy.
From there, the text provides an over view of the life cycle and an expanded
exploration of Monarch development from egg to caterpillar to pupa then to
adult. A general look atMonarch migration is also included.

True
to the series concept, the text
is readily accessible for children and accented with illustrations featuring
crisp, up-close photographs, and clearly labeled diagrams. Notes for parents
and teachers provide related activities for further exploration. A glossary and
index complete the 24 page paperback book.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

William Kotzwinkle offers up an imaginative collection of five
mysteries: The Case of the Missing Butterfly, The Case of the Frightened
Scholar, The Case of the Caterpillar’s Head, The Case of the Headless Monster,
and The Case of the Emperor’s Crown.

Inspector
Mantis and his colleague Doctor Hopper are on the job seeking out clues,
searching for motives, and making surprising deductions as they pursue villains
and stop crime in Bugland.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Young readers will discover the wonderful world of nature in
this new collection from QED Publishing in the U.K. titled Life Cycles.

Seedto Sunflower by Camilla de la Bedoyereprovides a step-by-step look at the
planting, germination, growth, and eventual maturity of the iconic sunflower.
The text is readily accessible for children and accented with illustrations
featuring crisp, up-close photographs, and clearly labeled diagrams. Notes for
parents and teachers provide related activities for further exploration. A
glossary and index complete the 24 page paperback book.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

From award-winning writer, Brigitte Goldstein, comes “Dina’s Lost Tribe” – a mystery that weaves together the lives of two women – one from the
14th century and the other from present day. Historical scholar, Goldstein, draws on her
extensive knowledge of Jewish and European history to create characters, plot,
and setting that ring true and offer readers an experience filled with depth
and heart.

You discuss your dissatisfaction the
trends in historical studies that you encountered during your university years
and your passion for literature and history. How did the contrast between your
dissatisfaction and your passion inform and influence your writing?

Dissatisfaction
is not quite the right word for the transformation I was undergoing. After many
years of studying and a brief stint of teaching, I came to realize that I am
temperamentally not well suited for academic history. I love history, the story
of people in time, in various places and circumstances. I discovered in me a
desire to put myself in the shoes of those who lived through the trial and
tribulations. For me, fiction was a more compelling way of telling the story of
the past. However, taking actual historical personages and fictionalize their
lives, which is commonly done by historical novelists, likewise didn’t suit me.
For me creating my own characters and developing a plot within a particular
historical setting (well researched and authentically and plausible reproduced)
would be a better and more exciting way of conveying historical events. My
emphasis is always on the human condition, the struggle of individuals caught
in the web of power beyond their control. Also, on a more personal level, there
are always the inter-human relationships of love, deceit, intrigue, envy, stuff
like that of which you don’t get much from academic paradigms interested to
prove some thesis.

How does your career as a writer influence other areas of
your life and vice versa?

My
writing certainly has an effect on my daily life. I do most of my work during
the night, early morning hours. I try not to answer the telephone while I am
engrossed in a different world. Even though it’s not completely possibly, I try
to stay away from current events. Not very successfully with the world in
turmoil. But when wasn’t it? That’s one thing history can teach us: there’s
always been upheavals, wars, conflicts, and very few peaceful periods—which is
a gold mine for historical novelists.

What
do you do when you are not writing?

At this point in my life, I am retired from working
in publishing. I live by myself and have the luxury of disposing of my time as
the spirit moves me. (This wasn’t always the case.) I read (mostly novels; I
try to reread some of the classics), listen to classical music, ride my
bicycle. Of course, I have a circle of friends, mostly associated with the
synagogue I belong to. I travel by car to visit my children and grandchildren;
I also have grandchildren in Israel whom I visit at least once a year.)

Briefly,
what's your book about?

The core story centers on Dina, a Jewish woman, who lived in the fourteenth century at the time
of the expulsion of the Jews from France. That was the original idea was to
write a Dina story; Dina having been the daughter of Jacob in the Bible who was
defiled (raped) by a local prince. My medieval Dina is left behind in a village
in the Pyrenees as her family flees to Spain due to the fact that she suffers a
similar fate as her biblical ancestress. She gives an account of what happened
to her to her children, a document, or codex, that is discovered and deciphered
centuries later by an American historian who was born in the mountains as her
parents fled from Nazi persecution. So that is the connection: the persecution
and expulsion of the Jews and the geographic area.

Dina's Tribe is a departure from your earlier novels: Court
of Miracles: A Human Comedy of 17th Century France and Princess of the Blood: A
Tapestry of Love and War in Sixteenth-Century France. What led you to write a book that moved from
the modern world to the historic?

Since
the time of my studies of French literature and history at the Sorbonne,
medieval and early modern France had a special fascination for me. So my first
two novels were set in that time and place. My graduate studies at NYU were more
closely focused on modern European history, especially modern Germany. So my
Dina book actually combines these two areas as far-flung as they may be.
Somehow I pulled them together. Both stories were originally conceived as two
separate novels. But once I got started with the medieval Dina’s story, the
characters of refugees from Nazi Germany sort of beckoned to come in.

Both
you and your main character, Nina Aschauer are historical scholars. I'm not a
big believer in coincidence so tell us how that came about.

Not too much of a coincidence though not in any way
biographical. It just seemed logical that Nina should become a historian. She
was very intrigued about her birth and the history of her people, the Jewish
people in modern and more remote times. So was her cousin the narrator who
brings the stories of these two women together.

What are your current/future projects?

My most recent novel
is an award-winning historical mystery Death of a Diva—From Berlin to
Broadway. It starts out with the murder of an international star of screen
and stage at a Broadway theater in the summer of 1941. The investigation then
traces the victim’s life from her humble origins in a Viennese ghetto to
stardom in Weimar Berlin and then the émigré haven in New York. The narrator is
a young woman, herself a German-Jewish refugee, who is the main character in
the novel I am currently writing in which she returns to Germany in 1946, under
an assumed identity, to find her grandmother who may or may not be alive.

Where do you get your information or
ideas for your books?

From
history, historical research, and most of all from my imagination.

What is your writing process? Do you follow a regular
routine?

As I mentioned above,
I write mostly at night. I am not hung up on writing a certain number of words
a day. Sometimes I just sit and think for a long time and live the scenes in my
head before I put fingers to keyboard. I should mention that at the start of a
project I use yellow pads and a pen. After about a chapter or two, I ease over
to the computer.

Are
there certain themes or ideas you prefer?

This may sound trite, but my ultimate concern is to
portrait aspects of the human condition. I am not a political or ideological
writer, I don’t preach, and, in accordance with Isaac Bashevis Singer, I don’t
try to redeem the world through my writing. I just try to be first and foremost
a storyteller of exciting stories.

What book(s)/author(s) have influenced your writing and how?

I often describe
myself as a nineteenth-century writer. Most of the writers that inspire me most
come from that period or the early twentieth century. The great Russians –Tolstoy’s
Anna Karenina is certainly one of the greatest novels ever written;
Germans like Thomas Mann; French like Balzac and Stendhal. Victor Hugo was a
great influence on my earlier novels especially Princess of the Blood. Thomas
Hardy, Edith Wharton, Herman Melville, Philip Roth, an eclectic bunch, are some
of my favorite writers in the English language. Among more recent writers are
Nicole Krauss and Julie Orringer.

What are the most important elements of good historical
fiction writing?

Compelling characters
and plots. What makes these compelling is a usually a hero or heroine with tragic
back story, an overriding goal for the character to pursue and obstacles to
overcome. Conflict, inner and outer, love and loss, and more conflict. Without
conflict there’s no story. There also has to be development. The main character
is put through the mill by those forces, human or natural and comes out
changed, a different person. Who wants to read about a walk in the clouds or
through a flowery meadow and peaceful evening by the hearth with a character
who has no doubts and all is well with the world?

Talk
about revising and/or suggestions about revising for upcoming writers.

Revision, revision, revision! No first draft is ever publishable,
no matter who the writer is. But you also have to let go at some point and hand
it over to a copy editor, preferably two different copy editors, and in the end a
proofreader. Many writers think they can wing it and do without a professional
editor (don’t rely on a friend you think is good at writing; not even people in
a writing group have the requisite skill and eye for detail). Everything has to
be edited. I worked in publishing as a production editor and know from
experience that this is an essential part of any published work—even great
writers get edited.

What's one
additional piece of advice about writing or publishing you'd like to pass on to
readers and writers?

If you are a writer, if you feel the calling, not someone
who had an idea for a book one day, write, write, write, but keep a job on the
side or marry comfortably. Publishing is a tough business. I have not been able
to figure out what criteria agents, editors, and publishers apply. Don’t be
discouraged by the clichés they dish out. If you are young enough and have the
energy keep on storming the bastion.

Anything
else you'd like readers to know about you and/or your book?

Writing is one of the most difficult things to do, but it is
also one of the most gratifying endeavors if that’s the muse that gives you
wings.

The idea for Dina’s Lost Tribe (it wasn’t called that in the
beginning) resided in my head for many years and when the birth finally took
place it turned out very differently than originally conceived; the story
metamorphosed under my very eyes. I often didn’t know where it was going, what
turn it was going to take. That’s what’s so exciting about creating your
characters and stories. I certainly never foresaw the ending of Dina. No
spoilers please.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

The adventure of a young groundhog who is frightened of his shadow until a fun-filled journey through the woods and farms surrounding his burrow allows him to discover his courage on Groundhog Day.An author's note provides information about Groundhogs.Cross curriculum connections for: Folklore, Shadows, Groundhog Day, and Groundhogs.

Monday, August 15, 2016

WILD ANIMALS provides young readers with a nature adventure in a variety of habitats across
multiple continents. Japanese Macaques enjoy spa days. African bullfrogs seal
themselves in underground burrows to survive year-long droughts. African bull
elephants weigh as much as two pickup trucks. Humpback whales hunt using
“bubble nets” and only male Zebra finches can sing. These are just a few of the
interesting facts that fill the pages.

Like the other books in the series, the animal sections are interspersed with thematic units with
specific tabs such as Where They Live, How They Live, Vista (showing animals in
their environment), Big Data (facts and figures), Animal Gallery (highlighting
similarities and differences) and so on. Stunning action-filled photographs,
informative notes, colorful maps and charts make for easy access to information
and will delight both youngsters and adults as they explore the amazing
diversity of wild life on our amazing planet.

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Autographed Copies of The Gingerbread Cowboy are now available online at OutWest Marketing.

REVIEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

As an author, I know how personal the writing experience is and I understand how much hard work and heart goes into the creation of a story. I only publish positive reviews so I am very selective when it comes to choosing books to appear on this site.

Before making an inquiry please look at books already reviewed here to get a feel for the types of books that interest me.

To submit a book for review: email your query or press release to jsquiresbooks@ca.rr.com. Include the following information: Cover jpeg, Title, Author, ISBN, Publisher, publication date, number of pages, genre. a brief (about 100 words) summary, book awards or reviews, author bio (50 words or less), and contact information: email, website, blog.

Due to the volume of review requests that I receive, I only respond to inquiries that interest me. If you don't hear from me within 30 days, it is probably safe to assume I won't be in touch.

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About Me

I began my career writing for regional and national magazines then shifted my interest to children's books. My picture book, "The Gingerbread Cowboy," published by HarperCollins, was the Arizona Governor's 2007 First Grade Book.
I belong to SCBWI and Women Writing the West.

Author Visits

Coming Events

2018

January 13 Celebration of Local Authors - 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Old Town Newhall Library, 24500 Main Street Santa Clarita, CA. This is always a fun event with dozens of authors in many different genres on hand to introduce you to their work, share their experiences in panel discussions, and answer questions. Come discover a new favorite author or book!

February 3 Simi Valley Library Annual Book Festival. I'll be the featured author. I'll offer a presentation, and books will be available to purchase and have signed. More details to follow.